Research - Global - Harvard Business School

2025
Working Paper

When LLMs Go Abroad: Foreign Bias in AI Financial Predictions

By: Sean Cao, Charles C.Y. Wang and Yi Xiang

We document foreign biases in AI-generated financial predictions: ChatGPT (U.S.-based) is systematically more optimistic about Chinese firms than DeepSeek (China-based), predicting higher end-of-year stock prices and generating more buy recommendations. This...

September 2025
Case

Cristina Ventura at White Star Capital

By: Linda A. Hill, Allison J. Wigen, Dave Habeeb and Ruth Page

[pre-abstract] This multimedia case should be assigned to students in advance of class. [abstract] This multimedia case study focuses on General Partner and Chief Catalyst Officer Cristina Ventura at White Star Capital, as she builds an ecosystem for investors and...

September 2025
Article
Journal of Accounting Research

Public Disclosure of Private Meetings: Does Observing Peers’ Information Acquisition Affect Analysts’ Attention Allocation?

By: Yi Ru, Ronghuo Zheng and Yuan Zou

We investigate the impact of observing peers’ information acquisition on financial analysts’ allocation of attention. Using the timely disclosure mandate by the Shenzhen Stock Exchange as a setting, we find that, shortly after analysts observe that a firm has been...

September 2025
Article
Current History

China's Perilously Imbalanced Economic Success

By: Meg Rithmire

China’s contemporary economic trajectory is paradoxical, marked by both extraordinary technological advancement and mounting macroeconomic vulnerabilities. China has achieved global leadership in advanced manufacturing sectors such as electric vehicles and batteries,...

August 2025
Teaching Material

Social Enterprise in South Asia

By: Brian L. Trelstad and Malini Sen

The research note presents an overview of the evolving social enterprise ecosystem across South Asia, encompassing eight countries: India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan, Afghanistan, and the Maldives. It explores the rise of social entrepreneurship and...

August 2025
Case

The Rise of Advanced Packaging: Kulicke & Soffa's Strategic Crossroads

By: Maria P. Roche, Ram Mudambi and Solon Moreira

In early 2025, semiconductor equipment maker Kulicke & Soffa (K&S) confronts a pivotal strategic decision. As Moore’s Law slows and chiplet-based architectures take center stage, advanced packaging has become the industry's new frontier. K&S, long dominant in wire...

August 2025
Case

Samsonite (A): Accounting Baggage?

By: Aiyesha Dey, Jonas Heese and Tom Quinn

In May 2018, Samsonite appeared to be doing well – it was the world’s largest luggage maker, it had just acquired a well-regarded luxury brand, and its stock traded at record highs. However, short seller Blue Orca Capital saw warning signs, including flawed accounting,...

August 2025
Teaching Material

Samsonite (B): The Short Seller’s Case

By: Aiyesha Dey, Jonas Heese and Tom Quinn

In May 2018, short seller Blue Orca Capital released a scathing report targeting Samsonite, the world’s largest luggage maker. Blue Orca believed it had uncovered flawed accounting, hidden conflicts, shaky governance, and perhaps outright fraud at Samsonite. This case...

August 2025
Teaching Material

Samsonite (C): The Rebuttal

By: Aiyesha Dey, Jonas Heese and Tom Quinn

After short seller Blue Orca Capital released a report alleging flawed accounting, hidden conflicts, and shaky governance at Samsonite, the world’s largest luggage maker, Samsonite CEO Ramesh Tainwala resigned amid accusations that he had faked a doctorate degree....

August 2025
Teaching Material

Social Enterprises in Asia-Pacific (APAC)

By: Brian Trelstad and Harold Zhu

This background note examines the social enterprise landscape across Southeast Asia and Oceania, analyzing eight key markets within the broader Asia-Pacific region. It explores how social enterprises have evolved as hybrid organizations that address structural social...

August 2025
Case

Bobobox: Pods or Cabins?

By: Das Narayandas and Billy Chan

Following the success of their tech-enabled capsule hotel business in Indonesia, Bobobox founders Indra Gunawan and Antonius Bong seized the opportunity created by a dramatic shift in travel preferences during the COVID-19 pandemic. They developed a second...

August 2025
Teaching Material

Gary Convis: Supplement to 625-003 Knowledge Transfer: Toyota, NUMMI, and GM

By: Willy C. Shih

Set of supplementary videos featuring Gary Convis, first Plant Manager of NUMMI.

July 2025
Case

Insilico’s Rentosertib Dilemma: A Star in the Pipeline?

By: Michael Lingzhi Li, Brian Mao Fu and Billy Chan

In 2024, the AI biotech firm Insilico Medicine faced a pivotal decision about its new drug, Rentosertib. Discovered and designed using artificial intelligence to treat a lung disease, Rentosertib had successfully advanced to Phase II trials — a first in global...

July 2025
Case

Mitsui & Co., Ltd.

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Akiko Saito

In 2025, Kenichi Hori, President and CEO of Mitsui & Co., Ltd.—one of Japan’s most prominent Sogo Shosha (investment and trading companies with sprawling global footprints)—reflected on the company’s record-breaking profits. Its operations spanned multiple...

July 2025
Case

ICARE: Frontline Leadership at Michelin

By: Hubert Joly and Emilie Billaud

In 2025, Michelin CEO Florent Menegaux reflected on the company’s transformation since taking the helm in 2019. Amid a volatile global landscape marked by inflation, rising competition, and geopolitical and sustainability pressures, Michelin had achieved strong...

2025
Working Paper

Public Displays of Alignment: Firm Speech in Autocratic Regimes

By: Joris Mueller, Jaya Y. Wen and Cheryl Wu

Political speech by firms is increasingly common around the world. This paper examines the government as an important, yet understudied, audience for such speech, focusing on how Chinese firms rhetorically align with the state. We introduce novel, general, and...

June 2025
Case

Assessing the Offers for Seven & i Holdings

By: Benjamin C. Esty, Nobuo Sato and Akiko Kanno

In the fall of 2024, the board of Seven and i Holdings Company (7&i, the parent company of 7-Eleven convenience stores in the US, Japan, and other countries) received multiple offers to buy the company. Two successive (and unsolicited) offers came from Alimentation...

June 2025
Case

TagHive: Edtech Pricing and Distributor Decisions

By: Isamar Troncoso, Frank V. Cespedes and Stacy Straaberg

Education technology (edtech) company TagHive, founded in 2017, used a direct sales team and third-party distributors to sell its Class Saathi hardware and software solution to 300 clients, mainly primary and secondary schools in India. The product aimed to improve...

June 2025
Case

Vail Resorts: Responding to Activist Pressure (A)

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Edward A. Meyer

On January 27, 2025, the head of a relatively small hedge fund named Late Apex Partners sent a highly critical letter to the board of directors of Vail Resorts, the world’s largest ski resort operator. In his letter, and the 88-slide presentation that accompanied his...

May 2025
Case

Initial Financial Statements at Blank Corporation: Bridging Content and Commerce

By: Jung Koo Kang, Panje Jayden Kim and David Allen

This accounting case is intended to teach students how to compile an income statement, a balance sheet, and a cash flow statement. It focuses on Blank Corporation, an innovative South Korean company that bridged content and commerce by selling products directly through...